Moving very large func_physbox entities

I've recently had some troubles blowing up a (very) large wall... in
fact, it's more of a dam really, but that's beside the point. I've
clipped the wall into sections and used a phys_convert to make them
physical on a trigger. Problem is, when I set up a phys_explosion on
the opposite side of the wall, to simulate the wall exploding outwards,
it seems to have almost no impact on the pieces of the wall. I've tried
using env_explosino, phys_explosion, trigger_impact and even
phys_thruster to try and move these huge (probably around 5 * 5 metres)
concrete blocks around, but they all seem to use integers for their
magnitude/force, and so I can't seem to get enough force to move them.

now that I think about it a bit more, I could probably give them an
invisible parent physbox which is much smaller, but that seems like a
messy hack to me. Anyone hav any idea about how I can overcome this?

Blocks are too big, mass is too large. Thrusters have a flag where you can tell them to ignore mass, maybe that would help. Or, you could use the mass multiplier in the func_physbox, set it to a small number (<1) and tweak that until it works.

I don't think changing the mass multiplier is an option in this case
(as the func_physboxes are created at runtime with a phys_convert
entity), but I'll check out the thruster flags.

make them all func_physboxes and set them to motion disabled and start
asleep. Then a moment before the explotion enable motion (with
outputs) and once the explosion hits them they will wake up and should
do what you want them to.

I thnk this is the simpple case of the pieces being too large. Ive never used the phys-convert entity because IMO its buggy (doesnt convery some entitys to phys-boxes), its best to set the boxes to asleep and then wake them when you want them to move, like dr glass said, but also increase the impact of the phys-explosion, so it will move those large pieces.

One other problem might be simply that a wall made out of big blocks is
simply too strong. Unlike a real wall, where bits of it can crumble,
func_physboxes stacked together won't squash or crumble and they fit
together perfectly. That means there's no room for them to manoeuvre.

Suggestion: try making some small seams and parts of the wall out of
func_breakables. Just before the explosion goes off, kill the
breakables, and that should give the physboxes enough space so that
they can tumble and fall down a bit.